“It’s a big win on how we did it,” said Dustin Brown about the Kings Game 2 win. “It’s a huge thing holding onto home ice. Now we have to go into their building…. which they play very well in… they protect home ice pretty well.”

Please note all games will be carried LIVE locally on NBCSN / 98.5-102.1 FM KFOX and the Sharks Radio Network (all games listed PST).

STORY LINES:

Battle in California!
The San Jose Sharks face the #5 seed Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 in the best of seven Western Conference Second Round Stanley Cup Playoffs. This is the 30th playoff series in franchise history for the Sharks (14-15) and the 2nd playoff series meeting vs. the Los Angeles Kings.

The Sharks won three overtime games vs. the Kings in the series and scored six goals in three of their four wins. Ryan Clowe led all Sharks players with seven points (4-3-7) in the series. A lot has changed since the first and only playoff meeting between the Sharks and the Kings…. as LA won the Stanley Cup in 2012!

San Jose is 65-48-7-6 all-time in the regular season vs. the Kings (including 2-2-0 this season).

Sharks vs. Kings matchups to look for:

Let’s break it down through Game 2:

POWER PLAY: - advantage KINGS

The Kings exploded for three power play goals in Game 2 after going just 2-for-15 in the six game series vs. the Blues. The Sharks are 0-for-6 on the power play through the first two games vs. the Kings after going 7-for-24 vs. the Canucks in Round 1. San Jose was 6-for-15 on home ice vs. the Canucks in Round 1 and must pick things up at home vs. the Kings to get back into the series.

FACE-OFFS: - advantage SHARKS

The Sharks owned the face-off circle in Game 2 and have a 77-52 advantage through the first two games (59.6%). Logan Couture has been the most consistent in the playoffs having won 61-of-90 face-offs (67.8%). Mike Richards has the best percentage on the Kings – but has only won 48.6% (54-of-105) of face-offs taken. Something for the Sharks to build on heading into Game 3.

Lineup changes for Game 3?

San Jose: No injuries reported for San Jose in Game 2. Defenseman Jason Demers is day-to-day and could see action in this series. Tim Kennedy replaced the suspended Raffi Torres (suspended for the rest of the LA Kings series) up front and Scott Gomez was moved up to center the third line. Gomez shined in his new role with two assists in Game 2.

“Gomez has been very good for us,” said Todd McLellan. “He’s almost like a 3rd or 4th coach out there…. He’s been a big influence that way.”

Los Angeles: forward Jarret Stoll left Game 1 late in the second period after he was checked by Raffi Torres and did not play in Game 2 – he was replaced by Brad Richardson. Kyle Clifford and Willie Mitchell are still out with undisclosed injuries. The Kings missed Stoll in the face-off circle in Game 2 as the Sharks won 67.7% of the face-offs.

*Nice Home Record…. The Sharks return home for Game 3 having posting the best home record during the 2012-13 regular season (17-2-5)… San Jose is 39-33 all-time on home ice in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

*Game 3…. San Jose is 18-11 all-time in Game 3’s including a 9-4 record on home ice… the Sharks defeated the Canucks 5-2 in Game 3 in the first round.

*Shot Blockers… the Sharks have four players that have blocked at least ten shots already in the playoffs (Stuart 14, Hannan 13, Boyle 13, and Braun 13).

Kings Notes:

*Tied….. Jonathan Quick (26 playoff wins) is tied for with Kelly Hrudy (26 wins) for the most playoff wins in franchise history.

*Captain Crunch… LA Kings captain Dustin Brown leads the club with 37 hits so far in the playoffs.

*On the ice a ton… defenseman Drew Doughty averages 28:05 time on ice per game… a full six minutes over the 2nd most on the team (22:05) by Rob Scuderi.

What they are saying:

“We got to Jonathan Quick for three in Game 2,” said Todd McLellan. “When you get three against them, you got to beat this team.”

Bottom Line:

The Sharks have never won a series when trailing 2-0 in the previous nine tries, and they cannot win the series in Game 3…. but it would be a start! The Kings won their first round series vs. the Blues after dropping the first two games in St. Louis… and the Sharks are going to have to return the favor in Round 2. San Jose was able to get to Jonathan Quick in Game 2 scoring three goals on 31 shots on net – with plenty of traffic in front! The Sharks power play scored six goals in two games in Round 1 vs. the Canucks… the Sharks would take half that total vs. the Kings this go-around. Traffic in front, a strong power play, and continued strong play by Niemi would be a nice recipe for a win in Game 3. GO Sharks GO!

NHL.COM PREVIEW

KINGS at SHARKS

(Los Angeles leads best-of-7 series, 2-0)

TV: NBCSN, TSN, RDS

Big story: In the first round, the Los Angeles Kings had to rally from a 2-0 deficit to advance. Now they're in position to do what the 2012 championship team did for four consecutive rounds: jump out to a 3-0 series lead, if they can defeat the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion. The Kings have won six in a row following their stunning 4-3 come-from-behind victory on Thursday.

Team Scope:

Kings: It has to be scary for opponents that Los Angeles is now winning games in just about every fashion imaginable. After relying on goaltender Jonathan Quick to come up huge in the third period of a 2-0 victory in the series opener, the Kings surrendered an early 2-0 lead built on goals by Jeff Carter and Drew Doughty, and trailed Game 2 by a 3-2 score late into the third period.

A two-man advantage after penalties to Sharks defensemen Brad Stuart and Marc-Edouard Vlasic quickly resulted in the game-tying power-play goal by Dustin Brown with 1:43 left. But the Kings weren't content to just head to overtime with a 5-on-4 man advantage. As a result, they got Trevor Lewis' game-winning goal 22 seconds later.

"I've said this before, experience is one thing and it's another thing to have all that experience together as a group of guys, because that goes a long way when you get yourself in a hole," Brown said. "We didn't play a great game tonight, but we found a way to win and that's the important thing. We've got to get back to playing our game if we want to continue to have success against the Sharks."

Sharks: The news came down a few hours before game time Thursday that San Jose will be playing the remainder of this series without forward Raffi Torres, suspended for a Game 1 hit on Jarret Stoll. If the Sharks can't find a way to win Saturday, the rest of the players on the team may find themselves with a lot of extra free time on their hands as well.

They had to be feeling good after absorbing the blow of another two-goal Kings lead and rallying to tie in the second period on scores by Patrick Marleau and Stuart before Vlasic put them in front for the first time in the series at 8:56 of the third. But the goals by Stuart and Vlasic took a backseat to the critical penalties they would take in the final minutes.

"It's a tough loss regardless," forward Joe Pavelski said. "We know we can break through. We have done it before. We know we're going to get our chances, and we did, and we could have had another one. It was just a tough way to lose it."

Who's hot: Carter and Mike Richards lead the Kings in scoring for the series with one goal and two assists each. Lewis, who doesn't have a power-play goal in 203 career regular-season games, now has three in 34 playoff games. … Marleau has a goal in five of the Sharks' six playoff games. Scott Gomez picked up a pair of assists in Game 2 for his first points of the postseason.